"I am more concerned about
the loss of every life than any statistic," he said. "The fact that there have
been fewer homicides this year is little comfort to the victims' families."

The city reached 50 homicides about 4 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, when Wesley Garth Gillmore, 16, was
shot and killed on East Tobias Street on the
city's south side. Police said Gillmore
had recently moved to Flint from Pontiac.

Chief James Tolbert said on Monday that police hope to obtain a warrant from the Genesee County Prosecutor's Office charging someone with the slaying within the next day or so. He declined to say if there was anyone in custody.

He said the shooting occurred after an argument with a group of people who were possibly intoxicated.

Lee Knorr, 56, who lives near the scene said she was awakened early this
morning by arguing that appeared to be coming from the street. She said she
then heard someone count, "1, 2, 3," followed by popping.

"And then I heard a girl start screaming," she said. "She was
crying and saying, 'Please tell me this isn't happening.'"

"It's not something we expect (in this area)," Knorr said.
"Normally this is a very quiet street."

A man who answered the door where the slaying took place said Gillmore was
one of his closest friends but declined to comment further.

Tolbert said so many homicides should not be happening.

"There has to be a value on life," he said. "A lot of (the homicides) would be prevented if there were some simple conflict resolution."

A
Flint pastor says city officials aren't approaching the city's homicide problem the right way.

Pastor
Robert McCathern of Joy Tabernacle Church in Flint said the homicide problem
needs to be viewed as a public health issue.

"We're still old school and out of
touch with most of America that's really trying to deal with it in a public health
way," he said.

Young people need to be prevented
from joining the criminal lifestyle and those that are already in the lifestyle
need intervention and conflict resolution, said McCathern. The youth also need
to have supervised activities available, he said.

"If you put a farm kid out on a farm
and leave him by himself he is going to play with whatever is out there – he is
going to play with a tractor, a pitchfork, whatever he can find," said
McCathern. "In urban America, our young men are playing with what's accessible,
and what is accessible is guns. There are too many guns."

The Michigan State Police has about
40 troopers either patrolling the city or working in the detective bureau.
Walling said that collaboration along with others needs to continue.

"We
have to continue to work together to prevent crime so that each year gets
better from here forward so fewer families are affected by violence," he said.